Strumming the Strings to Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major Prelude
The Backstory
Cello Suite No. 1 in G major, BWV 1007: I. Prélude
I'm Johann Sebastian Bach, and this is the backstory of my Cello Suite No 1 in G Major Prelude. You'll learn how this prelude for solo cello reached you through a copy made by my wife Anna Magdalena, because no manuscript in my own hand survives. On this site my fellow composers and I teach you to recognize our pieces whenever they play, so give the Trainer a go and see how quickly it comes.
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A Prince With Good Taste
In 1717 I took a job in Köthen as Kapellmeister to Prince Leopold. That meant I was in charge of the court's music, and I stayed there until 1723. Those were good years for writing music for instruments alone. It's in this setting that the cello suites most likely came to life, and the first one is where my story begins.The Date Is Somewhere in There
If you ask me exactly when I wrote the first suite, I'll have to disappoint you. The most anyone can say is that it was somewhere between 1717 and 1723, and nobody knows the exact day. I'm afraid no date has survived, and I'm sorry about that. What matters is that it came from my Köthen years, and that is a good enough address for a piece of music.Six Suites and One Doorway
The Prelude belongs to the first of six cello suites, which are catalogued as BWV 1007 to 1012. Each suite is a little collection of dances, and the first one has six movements. After the Prelude come an Allemande, a Courante, a Sarabande, two Minuets and a Gigue. So the Prelude is the front door, and you walk through it before any dancing begins.Not a Dance, Just an Introduction
I made the Prelude different from the movements that follow it, because it doesn't ask anyone to dance. It works more like a quiet opening of the curtains, where the music clears its throat and sets the key of G major. Because it has no dance steps to follow, it feels free and almost improvised, as if the player were thinking aloud. That openness is a big part of why it feels so welcoming to people who have never heard a note of classical music.Where Did My Handwriting Go?
Here's the part that still makes me shake my head: no manuscript in my own hand survives for any of these suites. I wrote them, I'm sure of it, but the pages I wrote have vanished. Whether a copy was ever made from them is another thing nobody knows, since no autograph exists to compare with. So when people say they have my original manuscript, I have to tell them that they don't.My Wife to the Rescue
What saved the suites is a copy made by my second wife, Anna Magdalena, around 1727 to 1731. We had married on 3 December 1721, in the middle of my Köthen years, so she was part of the household while I was writing them. Hers is the main source we have today, and it is the only manuscript the Netherlands Bach Society lists for this first suite. Every cellist who plays the Prelude owes her a thank-you note, and I'm happy to write the first one.Which Instrument Did I Mean?
People still argue about which kind of instrument I had in mind when I wrote these pieces. It might have been a normal cello, held between the knees, or it might have been a larger instrument held against the shoulder, called a violoncello da spalla. Recent research leans toward the second, but nobody can say for sure. Either way, the music is meant for one player alone, and it was never meant for piano.A Boy in a Barcelona Shop
Then along came a thirteen-year-old named Pablo Casals. He found a printed edition by Friedrich Grützmacher in a shop in Barcelona. It's worth being clear that he didn't perform the suites then and there, since he only found the pages and took them home. I like to imagine that shopkeeper not knowing what he was selling, because it was a very good afternoon for me.Sixty Years Old and Still Brave
Casals waited a long time before putting the suites on record, and he was the first to record all six. He began at the age of 60 and finished between 1936 and 1939. That recording was later chosen by the Library of Congress for its National Recording Registry in 2019. It's a lovely reminder that a piece can sit quietly for a very long time and then end up on a national list.From My Desk to Your Television
Today the Prelude is the best known movement of the entire set, and you hear it regularly on television and in films. I was born in Eisenach in 1685 and died in Leipzig in 1750, so I never saw a screen of any kind. Still, those rolling chords have wandered into living rooms and cinemas all over the world. If you recognize the tune without knowing its name, you have already met me, and I'm glad we've finally been introduced.---